Airbrushes are used to paint thin coats of paint, fingernail polish, ink, dyes, pigments, and other coatings on various surfaces. Substances applied with an airbrush are referred to collectively herein as “paint,” and the act of applying them is referred to herein as “painting.” The act of converting the substance from its original form to what emanates from the air brush is referred to herein as “aerosolizing” the paint. Of particular interest, airbrushes are used to apply paint on fingernails and toenails. Solid-color nails are the easiest to paint. French manicures are more complicated, involving painting the tips of the nails white and the nail beds a more neutral color. Even more popular recently has been painting multiple colors and layers on nails in patterns of various shapes and designs. Some of the designs painted on the nails approach miniature pieces of fine art, with detailed geometric shapes, landscapes, flowers, figures, etc. Because self-application of designs is very difficult, most people go to a salon for their manicures and pedicures, where they can obtain the services of trained and experienced nail technicians.
Some patterns are created by stenciling the nails. That is, a stencil with the desired pattern is applied to the nail, typically with adhesive, and then the paint is sprayed onto the nail. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,121 issued to Polito. The stencil is removed, leaving the pattern on the nail. It is known in the art to use an airbrush that is powered by a commercial-grade compressor to spray the paint. The compressor is large and heavy and is placed on the floor, as opposed to the manicure table. It typically remains in one location, stored at the foot of the nail technician's table whether it is in use or not, because it is not easily portable. It is desirable to have an airbrush that is small and compact so that it could be placed on a table, and that is easily moved and stored elsewhere between uses, particularly for home use.
Another problem with the existing equipment is that it is designed for a nail technician to use on another person's hands. It is nearly impossible to paint one's own nails with known airbrush equipment, because while one hand is being painted, the other is holding the airbrush wand, and an additional hand(s) is needed to hold the stencil in place. It would be desirable to have a mechanism to make painting one's own nails easier.
Further, commercial airbrushes are designed with a wand that has a tiny bowl (hopper) to receive the desired paint. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,131 issued to Viet et al. Nail polish is poured from a bottle of nail polish into the bowl in the desired amount. To change colors, the residual paint in the bowl and wand is forced out with the compressed air and a new color is poured into the bowl. This method of filling the bowl is time consuming, messy, wastes the paint remaining in the wand and can often lead to spilling the paint. Over time, the airbrush gets clogged and must be cleaned with an appropriate solvent or replaced. It is desirable to have an easier way to supply paint to the wand so that paint colors may be easily changed, with no mess or waste.
In addition to painting patterns on nails, air brushes are also used to paint patterns on other surfaces such fabric and clothing; walls; cars; signs; and even painting temporary tattoos on skin. It would be desirable to have a compact airbrush that is portable and that is battery-powered for use at remote locations.
Consequently, it would be desirable to a compact, portable airbrush that has an improved mechanism for aerosolizing the paint and changing the colors. Preferably the device will also have improved mechanism to hold stencils near one's own nails for easier self-application of fingernail polish. It is also desirable that the device be battery-powered for use in remote locations.